More on GE&H Area!

 

The location of the Green Eggs Gatherings is Millers Ferry Campground.  A COE facility near Camden, AL.  Located in Wilcox county, on the Alabama river, it is a fantastic facility in the middle of nowhere.  I assume it was a major pork barrel project of 20 or 30 years ago. Not just a campground; the facility includes a separate swimming beach  with a pavilion which would seat over 100.  Across the highway is another part of the park with ball fields and more picnic facilities.  The town of Camden is approximately 8 miles away and is, itself, very small.  One grocery store (Piggly Wiggly), and a couple of Dollar stores and chain drugs  make up most of the town.  There is a fantastic old time hardware store that sells everything. Hardware, clothing, furniture, guns, you name it, they probably have it.

Unemployment in Wilcox county is said to be the highest in Alabama.  The major industry is forest products, replacing the cotton and other agricultural products of the past.  Fantastic old farm houses along the highways show that it was once a prosperous community.  I did find a report where a Chinese company is scheduled to build a copper tubing manufacturing plant in the county soon.  I’m sure that’s welcome news.

When we were there last year, one thing that rang a bell was Gee’s Bend.  I knew I had heard of that somewhere.  It didn’t take long to connect that with Gee’s Bend Quilts.  Made famous by a program on NPR or 60 Minutes sometime in the past.

We decided we would go over to Gee’s Bend and see some of the quilts.  We took the 15 minute ferry ride over to the community.

 

Though it was a brand new ferry which ran every two hours over to Gee’s Bend, we didn’t find anything but more signs of poverty.  We were told they had a quilt museum, but we never found it.  No signs indicating there was one.  Just old decrepit houses with junk cars, and skinny cows grazing behind ragged fences.

Friends ask why we would go to such an area?  Why not a more tourist friendly place?  Every other rally of gathering we’ve attended has been in places like the Texas Hill Country, or the Gulf Coast.  Lots to see and do.  You spend most of your time trying to see and do it all.  In a place like Millers Ferry, you have time to enjoy the moment.  Visit with friends, or go around the corner from the campground and have breakfast at the local country store, marina, and gas station.

 

I definitely wouldn’t call the area a major tourist destination.  But it has the river, and if you enjoy paddling, fishing, or water sports, it is a great place for that.

Basically, it’s an area that reinforces the fact of no matter where you hang your sign,

There’s something good nearby, if you take the time to look for it……..jc